A Northern York County Regional police officer who shot and killed a 72-year-old man armed with a rifle Feb. 21 was cleared by the York County District Attorney on Thursday.

In his decision Thursday, York County District Attorney Tom Kearney determined, based on an investigation into the shooting by Pennsylvania State Police, that Clifton Thomson likely intended to be shot when he confronted police with a "high-powered rifle" in the backyard of his home on Hykes Mill Road shortly after 2 a.m. Feb. 21.

"Mr. Thompson had not only clearly stated his intent to commit suicide, but by initially firing his weapon in the direction of the officers inside the home, and again by advancing and shouldering his weapon and pointing it at the officers outside, acted in a manner to provoke the officers into aiding him in the act," Kearney's report states in part.

Police were sent to the home in Conewago Township after Thomson told an Adams County crisis intervention call taker earlier that morning that he had a weapon and was thinking of harming himself, according to police reports.

When police arrived at the house, they made sure Thomson's wife left the home safely, but Thomson opened fire on officers when they tried to enter the house to talk with him.

Thomson was shot when he ran out the back door of the house at 475 Hykes Mill and pointed his 30-30 rifle at the officer, police said.

Thomson was ruled dead from a single gunshot to the head by the York County Coroner's Office last week.

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